“I think it’s a very freeing thing,” Smith says. “It’s a wonderfully liberating aspect of the books, and something they’ve employed [so we can] give our own spin on these characters. The barebones are there, but they’re ambiguous; there’s nothing black and white about them, which I think is wonderful, and a sort of testament to George, really. “
Frankel agrees when he adds, “There are very few goodies and baddies in real life, people are human beings. And I think these two are not exempt from that. So it was very fun for Matt and I to try and bring humanity and our own kind of individual takes of what are already well-written and beloved characters in the books.”
Take Prince Daemon for example. When House of the Dragon starts, voices around the aging king, including Ser Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), the Hand of the King, attempt to distance the monarch from his younger brother, painting Daemon as an ambitious, callow libertine. And there is an element of that to Smith’s performance. But unlike Hightower’s assessment, or perhaps even that of many Fire & Blood readers, there’s a wounded quality here as well.
“I think everything is about his brother,” Smith says of the platinum-haired prince. “He’s deeply wounded, I think that’s where it all comes from. Otherwise, I think you’d get tired of him just being vain and pernicious, you know what I mean? Don’t get me wrong, there is a touch of that in there, but I think everything is a result of his sort of attitude toward his brother on some level.”
It is perhaps for that reason Smith was always the first choice to play Daemon in House of the Dragon co-showrunner Ryan Condal’s mind. When we spoke with Condal several months ago for Den of Geek magazine, the series’ head writer said Smith was who he instantly thought of for this character, even suggesting there are shades in Daemon of one of Smith’s other most beloved roles, that of Prince Philip, the Queen Consort of Elizabeth II. When we run by Smith that contrast, he initially dismisses it out of hand given his performance of Philip on The Crown was rooted in historical fact instead of high fantasy. But upon closer inspection, he does concede some parallels.
“Daemon is an extremely violent or crazed dragon rider,” Smith begins, “and Prince Philip is the Queen’s Consort, or was the Queen’s Consort, God rest his soul.” The actor pauses. “But they’re both second in command on some level, and they’re both sort of looking up at the throne instead of sitting on it. I suppose there are some correlations. But I was keen to avoid them, really. Prince Philip is his own man.”
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